This invention relates to semiconductor fabrication and, more particularly, to methods for planning operations within semiconductor fabrication facilities.
In a large manufacturing facility, such as a semiconductor foundry in which many tools are required to build the wafer and chip product, there are complex programs that run the tools that require monitoring and control to guide manufacturers in the way these programs may be implemented. The main framework for this system is known as the Computer Implemented Manufacturing (CIM) framework.
The overall control of the foundry floor is by a central server having a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) with tool control system. The central server has the information on each customer job that is currently being processed and ensures that each tool in sequence is performing the correct operation. This server communicates with users who monitor and control the production flow and operations on client workstations.
Standard work-in-progress (WIP) profiles or schedule, by process stage, are one of the items that manufacturing personnel and managers would like to know most. Even though WIP profiles are popular, there is no systematic method to generate a WIP profile in a timely and consistent manner. One problem with generating WIP profiles is that a significant amount of data about process time and cycle time factor must be collected, organized, correlated, and maintained. Maintaining, let alone collecting and correlating, this information in a timely manner requires significant resources and support by Fabrication Plant and Information Technology personnel.
Desirable in the art of is a need for a method and system for timely determining WIP profiles to allow for efficient operation of semiconductor foundries in order to maximize the capacity of the manufacturing facility.